Ice, Bombs, and Landslides
by Tortured Artist
Summary: SatAM fanfic. Robotnik plans on burying the Knothole Village under piles of rock. To stop Robotnik and Snively, the Freedom Fighters must split up and battle them on two separate locations before it is too late for Knothole.


Ice, Bombs, and Landslides

_Author's Note: This fanfic takes place during the second season of the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon._

"What's taking so long?" asked Sonic, tapping his foot out of impatience. Sally was standing next to him, looking out into the forest.

Tails hovered overhead with a pair of binoculars in his hands. "I can see them coming."

"How far are they?" asked Sally.

Tails landed next to Sally. "Aunt Bunnie is leading them to the sliding tree. They should be here any second now."

Sure enough, Bunnie slid out of the bottom of the sliding tree, crashing into the pile of hay. Before she could get out of the way, six other bodies wound up in the hay with her.

"Good job, Bunnie, it looks like you got all of them here safely," said Sally as she helped her out of the hay.

"Yeah, but hiking along the Great Unknown and through the Great Forest with six other people was hard on my joints." Bunnie swung her left leg back and forth. "I think I need Rotor to oil my joints again."

A gazelle among the party approached Sally. He was light brown in color and had long antlers that were almost half his body length. "Princess Sally, I presume." He bowed to her. "My name is Sayo, leader of the Fissure Canyon Freedom Fighters. Or what's left of us anyway."

"Exactly what happened to you guys?" asked Tails.

"We used to live in the caves of Fissure Canyon until Robotnik found our hiding place and roboticised our Freedom Fighters. There's only six of us now and we had to live in hiding ever since until Princess Sally allowed us to live in Knothole."

"Tails, could you go and tell the others our guest have arrived," said Sally.

"Okay, Aunt Sally." Tails flew off into the village.

"Cute kid," said Sayo.

"It's a good thing you got here when you did. We really need your help," said Sonic.

"Really? What for?" asked Sayo.

"You told me that you were an expert on explosives," explained Sally. "You also told me that you had a geologist among your Freedom Fighters."

Suddenly, a large ball rolled up in front of Sally. The ball unfolded to reveal an armadillo. The armadillo grabbed Sally's hand and began to shake it enthusiastically.

"Hello there, Princess. I'm Crystal here at your service."

Sally, who was very flustered by her sudden introduction, just stared at her. Before she could come up with something to say, Crystal moved on to Sonic. "Well, you must be that speedy blue hedgehog I've heard everyone talk about. Pleasure to meet ya." Crystal slapped Sonic on the back.

"A little rough, don't you think?" asked Sonic, rubbing his back.

"I think I'm starting to like her," said Bunnie.

Sayo groaned. "Crystal, must you be so rambunctious."

"Listen, we have an important matter to attend to," said Sally. "Bunnie, could you show the other Freedom Fighters to their huts."

"Will do, sugah."

"And Sayo and Crystal will follow me and Sonic to the war alcove."

"I'll meet ya there," said Crystal enthusiastically. She curled into a ball and rolled off. Sayo rolled his eyes.

Sonic, Sally, Sayo, Crystal, and Dulcy gathered at the war alcove. Dulcy carried several rolls of maps in her arms and she was fumbling through them to find the one she was looking for.

"Yo Duls, haven't you found the map yet?" asked Sonic impatiently.

"Hang on, I think I have it right..." Dulcy suddenly stumbled over her own feet and tripped. The table shook as Dulcy fell on the floor, the maps spilling out of her arms and all over the place. One map rolled up to Sally's feet. She picked it up and said, "Ah, here's the map we need. Thanks, Dulcy."

"You're welcome, Ma," said Dulcy in a daze. Sally unfurled the map and placed it out on a table.

"This is a geologic map of the Great Mountains just north of here," explained Sally. She pointed to a section to the far east of the mountains. "Here, Snively as well as several SWATbots have set up camp here and with some help from Uncle Chuck, we learned that Snively is directing robots to place high powered explosives around the mountains. Robotnik plans on detonating the bombs to create a landslide that will burry half of the Great Forest, and Knothole with it."

"That's why we need you guys," said Sonic. "We need an explosives expert to deactivate the bombs and a geologist to figure out where they are hidden."

Dulcy stood up from the floor as Crystal looked at the map, silent in her thoughts.

"I'm afraid I can't determine that information from the map. I will need to see the mountain itself. If there were fault lines he can exploit, it would be possible to cause a landslide in a specific direction. If there is a weakness in the mountains, I will have to see it for my self."

"And in order to deactivate the bombs, I will need to see them for myself, too."

"Sure thing," said Sonic. "Sally and I can—"

"That won't be necessary," said Sayo. He turned to Dulcy and said, "You, dragon."

"Who? Me?"

"Yes you. You're going to take us to the Great Mountains."

"Why Dulcy?" asked Sally.

"It will be easier to see the mountain as well as any explosives from the air, and since we will probably be on the mountain side the majority of the time, the fewer people with us, the better. Since the sun is going down, we'll be leaving as soon as we gather the equipment we need."

"Are you sure you don't need our help?" asked Sally.

"Yeah, we know the Great mountains," said Sonic. "Surely we can—"

"Like I said, that won't be necessary," said Sayo. "Even if we do get into trouble, surely this dragon will be able to help us. Isn't that right, dragon?"

"Uh, my name's Dulcy."

"Right, Dulcy."

Crystal climbed into Dulcy's pouch while Sayo climbed onto her back.

"Good luck, Dulcy," said Sally.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Dulcy opened her wings and flew out of the alcove.

#

As the sun went down and Dulcy had the cover of night on her side, she flew over the mountains as quietly as she could. Several SWATbots were around drilling into the mountains. Dulcy flew over the mountains to allow Crystal a chance to study the geology. Once it got too dark to see the mountains, they landed near a campsite where Snively had set up as a base of operations. Hiding in the shadows, Sayo got a good look at the explosives they were using. There were four of them stacked off to the side and guarded by four SWATbots. Sayo rejoined Crystal and Dulcy behind some rocks not far from the camp.

"I looked at the bombs, and they are using HN-7 explosives. With the amount of explosives they have, they could blow up a mountain."

"Do you think you can disarm them?" asked Dulcy.

"Easily," said Sayo.

"And I think I know where Robotnik has placed the bombs." said Crystal while she folded and put away the geologic map. "There is certainly a fault line along one of the mountains. If he could use explosives to weaken the fault, the weight of the rocks would force the mountain to fall into the Great Forest."

"We better get started and disarm the bombs." Suddenly, a dart hit Dulcy in the arm. She fell over, dazed as the drug took affect.

Crystal ran to her side. "Dulcy, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Ma," said Dulcy. "I just need a nap." Then a dozen SWATbots surrounded the three of them, guns aimed at them.

"Freeze, intruders," said one of the SWATbots. Sayo and Crystal held up their arms in surrender. Then Snively appeared from the darkness. "Well, well, Robotnik will be pleased that I found some saboteurs."

#

At sunrise, Sally was awoken by the sound of a knock on her front door. The morning sun shined through her window, glaring into her eyes.

"Sally-girl, open up. We've got a problem here," said Bunnie from behind the door. Sally got her boots and vest on before opening the door. When Sally opened the door, Bunnie's ears looked a little frazzled as if she had just woken up herself. "Dulcy, Sayo, and Crystal haven't come back yet and we can't seem to contact them again."

"What? Have you started to search for them?"

"We already sent a message to Uncle Chuck to see if he knows anything. However, before we could go out and search for them, we discovered that Robotnik is up to something."

"What do you mean by 'up to something.'"

"Follow me." Bunnie grabbed Sally's right hand and led her to a lookout post. On top of the lookout post was Sonic looking in the direction of Robotropolis through a pair of binoculars.

"What's going?" asked Sally.

"I don't know," said Sonic. "It looks like Ro-butt-nik is setting up something at the edge of the Great Forest." Bunnie and Sally climbed up the lookout post. Sally took the binoculars from Sonic and looked south through it to see five large rectangle shaped boxes.

"Those are speakers," said Sally.

"What in the hoo-ha is Robotnik doing setting up speakers for?" Bunnie got her answer when Robotnik's voice was heard from the speakers.

"Attention Freedom Fighters. I have captured your dragon and two other Freedom Fighters. They will all be roboticised within the hour unless the hedgehog meets me at the old Mobotropolis Skating Rink. Remember, you have one hour."

"Why would Robotnik be telling us this?" asked Bunnie. At that moment, a messenger bird landed on the top of the lookout post in front of Sally. Sally removed the message from the bird's foot.

"It's a message from Uncle Chuck," said Sally. She read the note in dismay. "Oh my gosh, it says that Robotnik has already set up the explosives on the Great Mountain and he's using Dulcy and the others as a distraction, while Snively detonates the bombs."

"That's it, I'm going," said Sonic as she slid down the ladder on the side of the lookout.

"Sonic, wait," said Sally, sliding down after him. "You know this is just a trap."

Bunnie slid down and landed net to Sally.

"I know, but we have no other choice. We need Sayo and Crystal to find and disarm the bombs."

"Yeah, but Snively might activate the bombs as soon as you get to Robotropolis," said Bunnie.

"Then perhaps we should split up," suggested Sally. "Sonic will rescue Dulcy and the others while Bunnie and myself delay the bombs. We can use the Freedom Stormer to get to the Great Mountains."

"Cool, you guys get started on that while I go to Robotropolis." Before Sally could replay, Sonic sped off, leaving a strong wind in his wake.

#

The Mobotropolis Skating Rink was one of the few buildings that were not torn down after Robotnik took over. After eleven years, the building had become worn and started to fall apart. Or at least, that was the way it was before. When Sonic reached the building, he noticed that parts of the building had been repaired; crumbling walls were reinforced with concrete and wood planks.

"I don't like this. This looks like one of Ro-butt-nik's traps."

Sonic cautiously walked into the building through the front entranc, only to find the dilapidated lobby to have a huge slanting wall within it. Sonic, remembering back when he was five, vaguely remembered that the lobby was directly connected to the skating rink. There should not be a large slanting wall blocking the rink. He saw what appeared to be a doorway in the wall. He looked inside to see the skating rink. The slanting walls completely surrounded the rink and were covered in a smooth material of some kind.

Sonic shivered in the cold air. "Someone needs to turn down the air-conditioning."

In the middle of the rink, he saw Dulcy, Sayo, and Crystal inside an electrified cage judging by the glow of the bars. Robotnik was nearby, riding in a saucer-shaped hovercraft that hovered a foot off the ground.

"Welcome, Rodent, to my custom-made skating rink," said Robotnik, his voice echoing from across the room and off the walls of the skating rink. Sonic could hear Dulcy mumbling. Her feet, hands, and mouth were shut together with cuffs.

"Let them go, Ro-butt-nik," said Sonic.

"I have the keys attached to my belt and I'm willing to let your friends go if you will play around on the ice with me."

"Thanks for the invitation, but I hate to skate." Sonic had to cup his hands around his mouth to be heard.

"I didn't say you had a choice."

A large spring appeared out of the floor behind Sonic. It pushed Sonic into the rink where a sliding door sealed him inside. Sonic slid out of control across the ice.

"Whoa!" shouted Sonic as he fought to maintain his balance. He tried running, but the ice was so slick that he did not get any traction. He fell on his stomach as he slide up the incline, then gravity pulled him back down.

Robotnik laughed evilly as he watched Sonic slide. "You're helpless, Rodent, the rink is too slippery for you to run on." Sonic tried to slow down by digging the toes of his shoes and his fingers into the ice. It slowed him down enough to stand up, but he was still sliding out of control.

"This isn't good," said Sonic while rubbing his cold hands. "With ice this slippery, even my antigravity sneakers won't help. I better find a non-slippery surface and fast."

"Oh, but you won't live long enough to reach any." Robotnik pushed a button on the console of the hovercraft and two saucer shaped robots were lowered onto the rink by cranes attached to the ceiling. Both robots were five feet in diameter, had a dome shaped head on top, and two rows of countercurrent spinning blades that rotated around the perimeters of the two robots.

"Zambo 1 and 2, get that hedgehog." Do to a protective steel covering around the edge of the hovercraft, Robotnik was able to use the hovercraft to knock the two robots forward without damaging the hovercraft. The two robots then went flying across the rink, skimming along the inline and toward Sonic. Again, Sonic tried running, but his feet could not gain traction. His only means of escape was to jump out of the way. The blades of the robots almost nicked him as they glided by. However, when he landed back on the ice, he slipped and landed on his stomach. Zambo 1 slid up the incline and slid back toward Sonic. Sonic pulled his face off the ice in time to see the spinning blades of Zambo 1 heading right toward him.

#

Meanwhile, in the Great Mountains, Sally and Bunnie rode the Freedom Fighter's airplane (called the Freedom Stormer) low to the ground of the mountains to avoid detection. It was not an easy task because of how close to the mountains they were and Sally was out of practice flying the Freedom Stormer. After all, it had not been used since their visit to Maga.

"Sally-girl, are you sure you know what you're doing?" said Bunnie as she clutched the door as if she was too afraid to let go.

"Hang on, Bunnie, there should be some flat land for us to land on soon," said Sally as she fought to keep the plane under control.

"I hope so, sugah, because I think I'm going to be sick." As Sally turned the plane around a mountain, she saw a bare patch of dirt just as Sally had said.

"Okay, just got to ease the plane forward."

The Freedom Stormer hit the ground hard, almost bouncing off the ground hard. Both girls screamed in fright as the airplane rode along the unpaved ground until it eventually came to a sudden stop when it hit a mound of dirt. The girls coughed on the cloud of dust that accumulated as they stepped out of the plane and ran away from it to get out of the dust.

"Well that—cough—was a rough—cough—landing," said Sally.

"Yeah—cough—but I'm walking next time—cough," said Bunnie. They walked the remaining distance to Snively's camp. There, they saw several SWATbots who were gathered around a large computer terminal next to a ship. Several SWATbots circled it as if they were standing guard.

"I don't like the look of this, Bunnie," said Sally. "There doesn't appear to be any explosives down there which probably means the bombs are already in the mountain." She saw a large rectangular object with thick cables attached to the back and a large screen on the front. Snively was typing on a built-in keyboard. "That computer must be what is used to detonate the bombs. If we can get to it, we might just be able to deactivate the bombs."

"Oh my stars, there are so many SWATbots here. How are we going to get past them?"

Sally surveyed the area and saw one SWATbot patrolling the outskirts of the camp. "I have an idea." Sally and Bunnie snuck around the camp, hiding behind rocks and bushes. When they reached the SWATbot, they hid behind boulders several yards away from it.

Sally quietly whispered into Bunnie's ear. Bunnie nodded to Sally, understanding her instructions and raring to go. Sally pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, activate FM mode." Nicole started to beep softly as she sent out radio frequencies into the air. Sally knew that the SWATbots were built to pick up radio signals and Sally was hoping to lure the SWATbot toward them by emitting a very short-range radio signal. The only SWATbot that was close enough to sense it heard the beep over the radio signal. The SWATbot walked toward the rock and just when it peaked behind the rock, Bunnie grabbed the robot, forcing it behind the rock and out of sight. Bunnie held onto the SWATbot with her robotic arm, clasping it tightly around the _neck_ in a chokehold.

"Freeze, introducers," said the SWATbot.

Using a cord built into Nicole, Sally plugged Nicole into a plug on the back of the head of the SWATbot.

"Nicole, activate reprogramming command 7-84."

"Activating, Sally." Nicole quickly erased the programming on SWATbot. Thankfully, there was no security code built into the SWATbot's memory. The SWATbot stopped struggling as its memory was erased and replaced with a new one. "New program successfully uploaded."

"Good work, Nicole."

Bunnie let go of the SWATbot and it stood up, now following a new allegiance.

"Okay, what are we going to do next?" asked Bunnie.

"Now, we turn ourselves in," said Sally.

"What?"

#

As Bunnie and Sally talked, Snively was at the computer, testing to see if the bombs were picking up the radio signals. After carefully testing each bomb, the computer said, "All explosives reacting normally."

"Good, we are now ready to activate the bombs." Snively talked into his communicator on his wrist. "All SWATbots, leave your posts and join me near the computer." Nine SWATbots gathered around Snively who was grinning at the thought of destroying Knothole. "Oh yes, just a push of a button and Knothole is finished." He looked at the SWATbots, perplexed. "Wait a minute. One's missing." Snively talked into his communicator again. "Number B66, where are you."

The SWATbot's voice answered through the communicator. "Sir, I have captured a Freedom Fighter."

"Well, bring him here." Bunnie and the SWATbot came out from behind the boulder. Bunnie held her arms in the air, pretending to be a captive while the SWATbot held her at gunpoint with its laser weapon built into its arm. The SWATbot lead Bunnie to Snively who was encircled by the other SWATbots.

"Well, if it isn't Bunnie Rabbot," said Snively confidently. "Who else is with you?"

"I'm not saying anything, so y'all better forget it," said Bunnie.

"I know you wouldn't come all the way over here by yourself. So you better tell me who else is here." Meanwhile, Sally hid behind another boulder just behind the computer.

_Good, they're all focused on Bunnie,_ thought Sally. _Now to distract them._

She knocked over a rock and cried out in a deceptive show of pain. Once she was sure the SWATbots and Snvely had seen her, she quickly dodged behind the boulder.

"Get her," ordered Snively. Before the SWATbots could act, the one under Sally's control fired at the SWATbots. Before the other SWATbots knew what was happening, one of their own kind destroyed four of them in four shots at close range. One of the SWATbots fired at the controlled SWATbot, blowing its head to pieces. Bunnie then grabbed the nearest SWATbot with her robotic arm and tossed it like a rag doll at another SWATbot, destroying both of them. Snively pulled a laser gun out of his pocket and fired at Bunnie. A blue beam fired from the gun and hit Bunnie, surrounding her in a bluish haze before fading away. Bunnie collapsed onto the ground, her robotic legs and arm unable to move.

"You better come out here, Princess, or else the bunny is a goner," said Snively. Sally reluctantly walked out from behind the boulder. Snively stood over Bunnie.

"I'm sorry, Sally-girl, I can't move," said Bunnie.

"That's because this laser can paralyze any machine." Snively pointed to his gun. He grinned confidently at Sally, because he still had three SWATbots holding Sally at gunpoint and she was unarmed.

#

Just like Sally, Sonic was also looking death in the eye as Zambo 1's spinning blades headed toward him. While on his belly and unable to get away in time, Sonic pulled out a power ring from his backpack and the ring got caught in the two countercurrent spinning blades. The momentum of Zambo 1 dragged Sonic along the ice. The ring's energy poured into Zambo 1, short circuiting it and stopping its engine. Sonic and Zambo 1 slid up an incline. Before they slide back down, Sonic jumped onto the robot and used his antigravity sneakers to stick to the top of the robot as it slid down.

"Now, how do I steer this thing." Before he could react, Zambo 2 struck the side of Zambo 1. Even with his antigravity sneakers, he was nearly knocked off the robot. Sonic fought to maintain his balance as Zambo 1 slid around the incline. "This isn't good. That was the only power ring I brought with me." Zambo 1 headed toward the electrified cage. It bounced off the cage, briefly electrifying Sonic, leaving him singed and smoking.

Robotnik laughed, his voice echoing throughout the ice rink. "Even with Zambo 1 out of commission, you are still helpless." Sonic, feeling dazed, tried to maintain his focus, but staying on Zambo 1 while it was moving was making it hard for him to concentrate. Seeing Robotnik nearby, he tilted the robot toward Robotnik using his body weight. Robotnik saw Sonic coming and he pulled out a laser gun from the holster on his belt. Sonic deactivated his antigravity shoes and jumped into the air just before Robotnik blew up Zambo 1 at point-blank with a laser gun. Sonic landed onto the hovercraft with Robotnik, grabbing onto his belt.

"You missed me," said Sonic mockingly.

"Hedgehog!" Robotnik fired again at Sonic with his laser. Sonic dodged the laser blast, then dove onto the ice rink, pulling off an object from Robotnik's belt. Robotnik fired at Sonic, blasting holes in the ice. Sonic curled into a ball and rolled past the electrified cage. As he passed the cage, he tossed the object he had stolen from Robotnik into the cage. It was a key. Sayo grabbed the key and while Robotnik was distracted by Sonic, Sayo unlocked Dulcy's muzzle, leg, and arm restraints. The restraints fell to the floor, clattering against the hard metal floor.

"Thanks guys, now how do we get out of here?" asked Dulcy as she stood up.

"You have to melt a side of the cage with your fire breath," said Sayo. Dulcy took a deep breath, expanding her lungs to huge size. She exhaled as hard as she could, blasting the electrified bars with fire. The electricity in the bars short-circuited as the flow of electricity was cut off. The bars melted away and they were free. It was only then did Robotnik notice Dulcy breaking free.

"How did you get out of those cuffs?" Robotnik aimed his gun at them, but then Sonic knocked the side of Robotnik's hovercraft, pushing him away, and knocking the gun out of his hand.

With Sayo and Crystal in her pouch, Dulcy took off out of the cage. She hovered over the rink and shouted, "Sonic, grab on."

Sonic leaped into the air and grabbed onto her legs.

Using her fire breath, Dulcy blasted a hole into the ceiling. She took off into the sky, Robotnik's cries of rage echoing from within the rink. As Dulcy flew, Sonic climbed up onto Dulcy's back.

"Hurry, Duls, we need to get these two to the Great Mountains in a hurry," said Sonic.

"Okay, but I gotta crack the whip," said Dulcy.

"Crack the whip?" exclaimed Crystal. "What does that...?" Before Crystal could finish her sentence, Dulcy snapped her tail, propelling herself forward, leaving her passengers to hold on for dear life.

#

Sally was standing at gunpoint by Snively's SWATbots.

"SWATbots, arrest her," said Snively, giving one of them a pair of handcuffs. Thinking fast, Sally bolted for the SWATbot with the handcuffs. She dodged behind the SWATbot and the other two fired at it, destroying the SWATbot. Sally then pushed it over as it fell and it landed right on top of Snively.

"Get it off me," ordered Snively. Sally grabbed the gun he was holding and fired it at the two other SWATbots, paralyzing them. Sally found a reverse switch on the gun. She flipped it and fired at Bunnie, allowing Bunnie to move again.

"Thanks, sugah." Sally helped Bunnie onto her feet. "What are we going to do with Snively?"

"We'll have to restrain him." Sally picked up the handcuffs from the fallen SWATbot and Bunnie pulled the SWATbot off of Snively. Bunnie forced Snively toward the nearby computer and Sally handcuffed him to a metal ring attached to the computer. Once that was done, Sally turned her attention to the computer. "Now, how do I deactivate the bombs?" The screen was all black except for some text written in green on top.

_Do you want to detonate explosives?_

Sally typed "_no_."

_Do you want to cancel detonation?_

Sally typed "_yes_." With that, the screen went blank.

"Well that was easier than I thought," said Bunnie. Suddenly, the screen came back on with a message and a timer written in large letters.

_Commencing detonation. Detonation will occur in two minutes._

Below the message was a timer counting down from two minutes.

Sally looked at the message in disbelief. "What's going on here?"

Snively just laughed in his usually high-pitched cackle. "Dr. Robotnik installed a security system so that if someone tried to deactivate the bombs without entering a password first, the bombs will go off by themselves."

Sally frantically pulled Nicole out. "Nicole, can you override the countdown?"

"I am unable to do that within the allotted time," said Nicole.

Just as Sally was beginning to panic, Bunnie pointed up to sky. "Look at that." They could see Dulcy flying overhead, diving toward Sally and Bunnie.

"Going down," shouted Dulcy. She hit the dirt, sliding on it as if it was covered in ice and crashing into some trees. As Dulcy lied dazed against the trees, Sonic, Sayo, and Crystal ran to Sally.

"What's going on?" asked Sonic.

"The bombs are going to go off in less than a minute and I don't know how to deactivate them," explained Sally. Sayo ran to the rock where he, Crystal, and Dulcy were hiding when they were captured. Thankfully, all of Sayo's and Crystal's tool bags had been left where they were. Sayo grabbed the bags and ran back to the computer.

"Sayo, hurry, we have only 45 seconds left," said Sally in a panic. Sayo, instead of joining Sally in front of the computer, examined the back of the computer. He saw several wires sticking out from behind, but one green wire caught his attention because the other end was in some nearby bushes. Sayo ran toward the bushes.

"Sayo, where are you going?" called out Sonic.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Sayo ran into the bushes, frantically running through them and ignoring the pain as they scraped against his leg. Among the bushes was a rectangular box with which the green wire was hooked to on one end, and a red wire was hooked to the other end and ran up the mountainside. Sayo pulled out his wire cutters from his bag, and used it to cut the red wire.

Just then, the timer on the computer counted down to zero. Everyone braced themselves for the explosion, but it didn't happen.

Sayo came out from the bushes, holding the box he had found. "It's okay, everyone, we're all safe."

"What did you do?" asked Sonic.

"I found the real trigger mechanism." Sayo held up the box. "You see, this box is actually a computer designed to activate the bombs once the computer it's hooked up too tells it to. That way, if anything were to happen to the main computer, this computer will still be active to activate the bombs."

"That's all well and good, but we still need to remove those bombs," said Crystal.

"She's right, we better hurry before Robotnik gets here," said Sayo.

Snively, who had been sitting there quietly this whole time, began to grumble. "Robotnik isn't going to like this."

Sayo and Crystal got on Dulcy's back and they flew off into the mountains. There were four bombs to remove and disarm. For each one, Dulcy hovered in front of the bomb and Sayo would carefully use his tools to open each one and remove the explosive unit of the bomb. Each unit was a metal cylinder where all the explosive components were kept. The three of them hastily removed each bomb and Dulcy stored the explosives in her pouch.

Once the fourth bomb was secured in her pouch, Dulcy asked, "Are we done yet? My wings are getting tired." Dulcy's wings were starting to hurt from hovering so much.

Sayo, who was starting to feel dizzy, concurred. "Good, lets go back down and..." Sayo suddenly got a little pale when a thought occurred to him. "Dulcy, do you always land hard like you did when you got here?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Those bombs you are carrying are volatile. If you land with those bombs in your pouch, you could blow us all to pieces."

"What? But I can't stay in the air forever. Can't you disarm them from the air?"

"Disarming bombs this volatile requires a steady surface to work on and careful precision. One wrong move and I could blow us up."

"In that case, we better ask Sonic to help us find a safe place to drop these bombs." Dulcy flew back to the camp and found Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie waiting for them.

"Hey Sonic," called Dulcy down to them from the sky. "We need a safe place to drop these bombs!"

"Don't worry, Duls, I know of a place and I'll lead you there!" said Sonic. He turned to Sally and Bunnie. "You girls can go back to Knothole while I help Dulcy."

"Be careful, Sonic," said Sally.

"Hey, when am I not," said Sonic confidently. Sonic zoomed off and Dulcy followed behind. She could not catch up with Sonic, especially while carrying four explosives and two passengers. Sonic led Dulcy into the Great Unknown where the remains of Sky Spy were located.

He stopped next to the wreckage of the satellite. "Drop them here, Duls!"

Dulcy, feeling tired, dropped all four bombs. She tried to turn around and fly away, but she was too tired to move very fast. When the bombs hit the ground, it caused a huge, blinding explosion, which knocked Dulcy out of the air. Crystal and Sayo hung on for dear life as they plummeted to the ground on Dulcy's back. Sonic could only watch helplessly as Dulcy fell.

"Whoa, hang on, guys." Dulcy frantically flapped her wings as the wind from the explosion pushed her off course. With all the strength her tired wings could muster, she forced herself to level off enough to land on her belly. She slid across the ground, kicking dirt into the air, and coming to a rough stop. The explosion died down, leaving a huge dust cloud.

Sonic ran up to Dulcy. "Are you guys all right?"

"Yeah we're fine," said Sayo.

"I think I'm going to be sick," said Crystal.

Dulcy seemed lost in her own little world. "Why is it so hot out here, Ma?"

#

Later that day, Sayo, Dulcy, and Sonic met Sally and Bunnie in the war alcove. Using some bandages, Bunnie was bandaging Dulcy's injuries.

"There you go, sugah-dragon," said Bunnie. "You're wrapped up tighter than a silk worm in winter."

"That was certainly one painful landing," said Dulcy. "I'm lucky I didn't break anything."

"But you did a good job carrying us around," said Sayo.

"Yeah that was superb flying, Duls," said Sonic.

"And now that Robotnik's HN-7 bombs are destroyed, he won't be trying to blow up the Great Mountain again for awhile," said Sally. "I have to admit, you and Crystal did a pretty good job with those explosives. I think you two will make a great addition to our team."

"Thank you, your highness," said Sayo as he bowed to her.

"Speaking of Crystal, where is she?" asked Sonic.

"When we got back to Knothole, she said she had something to do," said Dulcy. "Last I saw her, she was studying the Freedom Stormer."

Sayo's jaw dropped. "Oh no, don't tell me she's..." Sayo ran out of the war alcove and the others followed. Sayo looked up at the sky and saw the Freedom Stormer flying overhead.

"Don't tell me she's in that plane," said Sonic, his mouth agape.

"Sorry about this," said Sayo. "She likes playing with big toys." They all watched the Freedom Stormer as Crystal flew the plane through the air. Crystal's cries of joy were droned out by the plane's engines.

**The End**


End file.
